


Answerless

by BitterRenegade



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, F/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9295757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BitterRenegade/pseuds/BitterRenegade
Summary: Prompt: Winter!Characters: Shepard + their LI or their best friend!She wears the hoodie he bought her even though the temperature’s in the negatives.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For the MEFFW drabble challenge.
> 
> Not going to lie, I had a lot of trouble writing this. I thought I had drabbles in the bag but I've been feeling a whole new kind of writers block this last little bit. Location set in story is Vancouver because the Vancouver Christmas Market needed to be featured for me to be happy. -3- But I defs think I could have done a way better job on this.

She wears the hoodie he bought her even though the temperature’s in the negatives. He tries to convince her to wear a heavier jacket, but she stubbornly refuses. “The Reapers didn’t kill me, I highly doubt a little bit of cold weather could,” she argues. And, of course, he notices her shivering well before they get to the Christmas Market. And, of course, when he offers her his coat she tugs on her hoodie sleeves and glares at him (the glare probably would have been far more effective if she wasn’t shivering with a nose redder than Rudolph’s).

“Just trying to be a gentleman, Commander,” he raises his hands in surrender, and her expression turns cold.

“… I’m not a Commander anymore. Call me Fern.” It’s a peaceful name, and he’s still not sure if it suits her well or not at all. With a small smile, he takes his scarf off and wraps it around her neck. She pulls the soft fabric up until it covers her nose. “Thanks, Joker.”

“Call me Jeff,” the pilot teases and she shoves him lightly. It was easy like this… to joke, but never say what was really on their minds. At this point they’re experts at dancing around the subject of what they are and what they’re doing. He still remembers how broken she looked when he pulled her out of the rubble, and she still remembers how he screamed at her after EDI didn’t turn back on.

Laughter fills the air around them when they reach the shops. It doesn’t take too long for them to blend into the crowd, taking silly pictures and eating schnitzel and drinking cider. Fern spots some overly obnoxious Christmas suits and offers to buy Jeff one, and he points out a stand that’s selling scarily realistic looking fruit-shaped soaps. The booths are wooden and old-style, like they’ve been doing for over a century, and Fern wonders just how much the market has changed over time. The atmosphere always felt the same when she’d visited as a kid, but it was different now. They don’t stay too much longer, they take a final look at the stand that sells alpaca dolls made of alpaca fluff before leaving.

It’s colder when they leave the market, and Fern starts shivering now that there’s less people around. She wears the hoodie he bought her even though it’s covered in bullet holes. He doesn’t try to convince her to take his coat, and instead wraps an arm around her and pulls her a bit closer while they walk. There’s so many things that they want to ask each other. Why won’t you go back to the Alliance? How do you still stay with me? Do you forgive me for what happened?

“It’s pretty cold out, huh?”

They don’t need to say anything for them to know the answer.


End file.
